Railway signal-torpedo



F. BUTCHER.

RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDO.

APPLICATION man OCT- 8. 1915.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

FRANK DUTCHER, OF VERSAILLES, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T CENTRAL RAILWAYSIGNAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

RAILWAY SIGNAL-TORPEDO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

Application filed October 8, 1915. Serial No. 54,876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK DUTCHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Versailles, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway SignaLTorpedoes, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in railway signal torpedoes andit pertains particularly to that type of torpedo which comprises a casemade in tubular form by rolling a sheet of paper.

The primary object of this invention is to make a simple, cheap andeffective torpedo of the type referred to, in which the ends of the tubeare effectively closed, and in which the strap is easily applied andeffectively held, both results being obtained without the use of anyclip, metal or otherwise.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a torpedocomprising my present improvement. Fig. 2 is an inverted perspectiveView of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 8-3,of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a cross sectional view on the line l1 of Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a fibrous tube partially formed out ofwhich the improved torpedo case is constructed.

In carrying out my present invention the paper or fiber tubular case 1is rolled on a mandrel from a sheet of paper in a manner well known toand understood by those skilled in this art. Placed within the casing isan explosive compound 2 which is preferably of plastic or tablet form,and then the ends 3 of the case are flattened together, and in thisinstance the flattened ends are united by sewing them together as at at.

I do not make any claim broadly herein for the closing or holding theparts of the case together by sewing or stitching, for this is made thesubject matter of a copending application of mine bearing Serial No.790,258 and filed September 17, 1913, in which application this novelway of closing the parts of a torpedo paper case is generically claimed.

The outer layer 1 is provided at the underside of the torpedo case withnotches 5 which extend from points 6 located inside of the stitching 1to the ends of the case, the stitching extending continuously across theends of the case and therefore across the notches 5 and holding all ofthe endsof the layers of the case together. However, by reason of thenotches 6 beginning at points inside of the stitching, the'outer layer 1can be separated from the adjacent layer by a suitableflat pointedimplement a width equal to the width of the notches, and therail-engaging strap 7 is readily and easily passed through the openingor separated portion of the outer layer 1. It is understood, of course,that in the form of this case by the wrapping of the sheet, the wrappingis cemented to form a tube in the usual Way, and hence the sewing orstitching 4 extends across the cut out portions or notches 5, andtherefore entirely across the ends of the case, (as particularly shownin Fig. 1) and will prevent the two outer layers 1 from opening upbeyond the width of the slots 5. After the separation is started bysuitable implement, the rail-engaging strap 7 can be pushed through between the two outer layers 1 and the adjacent layer of the case. Inorder to give the desired strength to hold the rail-engaging strap inposition, preferably the two outer layers of the tube are notched.

In making this improved torpedo the sheet 8 out of which the tube isrolled has cut in one end thereof the openings 9 and notches 10, andthese are so located in the sheet that they will register when the sheetis formed into a tube, and they are spaced a distance apart so that whenthe tube is cut into sections on the cutting line, Fig. 5, the sectionswill be of the proper length for the torpedo case, and the notches willbe in each end of the two outer layers of the tube as will be clearlyunderstood. The tube, of course, when rolled. is preferably round incross section, and is cut into sections while ona suitable roundmandrel. The sections are then sufficiently flattened to receive theexplosive tablet or plastic tube after which the tube is preferablyfurther pressed in a suitable shaping machine (not shown) which is wellunderstood by those skilled'in making this tvne of torpedo. Theflattened ends of the case are then sewed as previously explained, andthe rail-engaging strap applied thereto as also heretofore explained.

By reference to the drawings, it will be seen that a torpedo of thisconstruction has its ends closed, and provision made for effi- 1.10

ciently uniting the rail-engaging strap thereto, both results beingaccomplished without the use of any metal or other form of clip. Havingthus fully described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. An improved railway signal torpedo comprising a tubular case composedof layers of fibrous material, an explosive 'compound within the case,the ends of the case flattened and sewed together, the outer layer ofthe case having openings, and a rail-engaging member passing through theopenings and under the outer layer of the case.

2. An improved railway signal torpedo comprising a tubular case composedof a plurality of layers of fibrous material cemented together, anexplosive compound within the case, the ends of the case flattened andsewed together at points beyond the explosive, the outer layer of thetube having notches or openings extending to the ends of the case, and arail-engaging strap passing through the said openings and under theouter layer of the case.

3. An improved railway signal torpedo comprising a tubular case composedof several layers of fibrous material, an explosive compound within thecase, one or more of the outer layers of the case having notchesstarting at points located between the ends and the center of the caseand extending to the ends of the case, the ends of the case flattened,and stitching extending across the flattened ends at points between theinner ends of the notches and the ends of the case, and uniting theflattened ends of the case from side to side of the torpedo.

4. The method of making a fibrous tube for torpedoes with notches in oneor more of the outer layers of the tube which extend from the ends ofthe case to points between the ends and center of the case, whichconsists in providing a sheet of paper and forming therein openingsadjacent one edge, rolling and cementing the sheet into a tube andsevering the tube transversely at points extending approximately throughthe center of the said openings.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

FRANK DUT CHER.

lVitnesses R. W. JUNKER, A. MACDONALD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. C.

